Due to the Farm Bureau CEO’s contention that “the key isn’t whether (pesticides) are dangerous, it’s whether they can be used safely” is alarming.

It makes me truly wonder how is it that the annual Department of Pesticide Regulation air-monitoring devices at Rio Mesa High School keep finding high concentrations of the carcinogen 1,3-dichloropropene (aka Telone) above the lifetime cancer risk levels recommended by the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazards Assessment.

From 2012 to 2016, the latest available data, the air monitor recorded an average of 0.15 parts per billion, while OEHHA’s standard is 0.10 parts per billion. If the tarps are so great and pesticides are being “used safely,” then why are Rio Mesa High School students being subjected to risking their health by merely breathing and attending school?

Victor Melgoza, Oxnard

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